Daily Archive: April 8, 2017

“If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I’ve loved this course from the first time I saw it. It’s possibly the best in the world.”

And

“A kid grows up a lot faster on the golf course. Golf teaches you how to behave.”

And

“Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.”

And

“Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.”

And

“Don’t be too proud to take lessons. I’m not.”

And

“Focus on remedies, not faults.”

And

“How people keep correcting us when we are young! There is always some bad habit or other they tell us we ought to get over. Yet most bad habits are tools to help us through life.”

And

“I like trying to win. That’s what golf is all about. “

And

“I’m a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don’t enjoy.”

And

“My ability to concentrate and work toward that goal has been my greatest asset.”

And

“Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you’re the best.”

And

“Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.”

And

“Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.”

And

“Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game’s two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself.”

And

“The game of golf is meant to be fun.”

And

“The two things that motivate me most are closely allied. They are failure and a desire for self-improvement.

By failure, I don’t necessarily mean getting beat, although that’s often the end result and in itself is a strong motivation to go to work. The kind of failing I’m talking about is failing to measure up to the standards I’ve set for myself personally. When that happens, I get an irresistible urge – almost a compulsion – to improve. Whatever effort is necessary to prevent another failure, I just have to make it. Like now. Today.

Frankly, I believe this, more than anything else, is the reason I am where I am today. I’m not an easily satisfied person. Sure I take a lot of satisfaction in what I’ve achieved. But life doesn’t stand still. Every satisfaction wanes after a while, so if you’re like me you don’t sit around looking backwards. You try to move on, to look for something that gives you another satisfaction and, at the same time, hopefully adds a little more to your life.”Jack Nicklaus, Jack Nicklaus’ Playing Lessons, Chapter 1

And

“I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.”

And

“I like trying to win. That’s what golf is all about.”

And

Arnold Palmer, in 1962, after losing the U.S. Open to 22-year-old Nicklaus in a playoff: “Now that the big guy’s out of the cage, everybody better run for cover.”

And

Bobby Jones after watching Nicklaus win the 1965 Masters: “Nicklaus played a game with which I am not familiar.”

And

Author Rick Reilly: “He was not homespun like Sam Snead, funny like Lee Trevino. His pants didn’t need hitching like Palmer’s. Instead, he won over America with pure, unbleached excellence.”

And

Chi Chi Rodriguez: “Jack Nicklaus is a legend in his spare time.”

And

Gene Sarazen: “I never thought anyone would ever put Hogan in the shadows, but he did.”

And

Tom Weiskopf: “Jack knew he was going to beat you. You knew Jack was going to beat you. And Jack knew that you knew that he was going to beat you.”